If the 50's were the golden age of the American western then by the early 60's the genre was definitely in the doldrums. However in the mid to late sixties the western received a massive boost from an unusual quarter, Italy. Sergio Leone made a series of films known as the Dollar trilogy that became known as Spaghetti westerns and as these became hugely successful around the world a new western genre was born. The early spaghetti western were characterised by their gritty realism (the people looked dirty and sweaty rather then clean-cut as in the earlier US westerns, the towns were dusty and run down) as well as graphic violence. By the early 70's there were many substandard versions of Leone classics and this along with competition with the growing popularity of the martial arts movies meant that the genre was losing its appeal. What saved the European western or at east delayed its demise for a few years was the release of two films made by former cameraman and spaghetti western veteran Enzo Barboni using the name of E.B. Clucher. The difference was that these were comedies. They Call Me Trinity (1970) and Trinity is Still My Name (1974) were still recognisably spaghetti westerns but the violence was replaced by slapstick and the heroes were comedic parodies of the classic characters like 'The lone Gunslinger' or 'the man with no name'. When released these films were huge box office successes and broke many box office records worldwide.

Trinity a sort of hobo gunslinger turned bounty hunter rides into a small town only to find his brother Bambino as the sheriff. Of course his brother is not a real sheriff but an outlaw who broke the real sheriff's leg leaving him for dead and took over his identity in order to hide out from the law. He also has an eye of rustling the local landowner horse before he leaves and isn't keen on having his brother around for a share of the spoils. After a series of improbable event the two join together to help a community of Mormons fight off an evil land-owner determined to chase them out of the valley he wishes to own.

Trinity e Bambino, return as the two bungling outlaw brothers. After they promise their dying father to become better criminals they are mistaken as federal agents by a crooked arms dealer and decide to exploit the situation to their financial gain. Through a series of misadventures the two have to hide out in a monastery leading to plenty of knockabout humour.

Both films are pure escapist comedy action adventure and don't require much more analysis than that. They are really irreverent parodies of the earlier Spaghetti westerns featuring plenty of toilet and slapstick humour not that dissimilar from the later Blazing Saddles (remember the beans and campfire scene!) An example of this is the opening scene of the first film when the dust cloaked sleeping Trinity is dragged in to town by his flea bitten horse that promptly wakes him. He goes to the local hostelry and proceeds to devour a pan full of beans (from the pan!) a loaf of bread and a bottle of whisky rounded off by a loud burp is a classic. The films in their own way try to expand the western genre and bring it to a wider and younger audience. In fact the films are fairly suitable for everyone who like a bit of slapstick comedy. The violence is in contrast to previous more serious spaghetti westerns very toned down and is mostly of the cartoon or A-Team type, no one really get hurt apart from having a sore head. Children of all ages especially young teenagers will love these films and the reason for a PG certificate stem form the comedy violence and a few slight sexual innuendos, which will be missed by most of the younger audience in any case.

Overall if you are a fan of slapstick comedy of the Blazing saddles kind and the spaghetti western genre these films are worth seeing and if you've never seen Terence Hill and Bud Spencer in action this is the perfect place to acquaint yourself with tow of the biggest comedy stars of 70's European cinema.